Trimbach makes stunning wines on the upper end. But the generics are spotty and mostly made from purchased produce. The Best has to be just that and show consistency throughout the entire range. I failed to throw in Hugel for the same reason.

I also would go with Trimbach. They have their domaine wines and their negotient wines. I don't think you can judge their domaine wines based on their negotient wines. They are two seperate parts of their company. The CSH and CFE are among the apex of Alsace wines. Their VT and SGN's are classics. Deiss, Weinbach, and Zind-Humbrech would love to have the record of these wines.

Sounds like Bill might have had a notion of which HE thought were best... with this board.. well... people are going to be all over the board in terms of who they like.... which is nice.. since we all will get some idea of maybe some unfamiliar producers to try. I have found myself buying more from Alsace and less from Germany because of the sweetness of far too many German whites.... So, I'm happy to see who different folks favor.

Bill, I understand the distinction, but no other Alsatian producer gets raves from me like this one:

1985 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune Alsace France. Pale straw in color, still with a slight greenish cast at the edge; brilliantly focused in the nose, classic Riesling, minerality, light petrol and a touch of citrus peel; on the palate, medium-light bodied, still quite youthful and the good acidity belie its 15 years of age; the finish is crisp, and lingering. An exceptionally flavorful, superb Riesling — my white wine of the night, and second favorite of the evening. 5*.

I've had about 50 Trimbachs over the past ten years, only one with three stars, ten with four, and the rest with five or four plus.

A winner for me, even though I've liked other producer's wines. Nothing matches Trimbach in our house.

Bill Hooper wrote:We may all have our favorites, but can we all agree that these are the fillets of Alsace? IMO they are far and away ahead of the pack. If not, who else?

I'm not a huge Alsace fan, but I'm far from persuaded by Zind-Humbrecht. Maybe it's just an instinctive aversion to a Parker favorite, but it seems to me that they depart from traditional Alsatian style in pursuit of points, and I don't like that.

I think Trimbach clearly belongs on your list, and among small producers, I could make a strong case for Marc Kreydenweiss.

I never hear about Mittnach-Klack any more, but they were a real cult item among wine geeks in the 1980s.

Bill Hooper wrote:We may all have our favorites, but can we all agree that these are the fillets of Alsace? IMO they are far and away ahead of the pack. If not, who else?

I'm not a huge Alsace fan, but I'm far from persuaded by Zind-Humbrecht. Maybe it's just an instinctive aversion to a Parker favorite, but it seems to me that they depart from traditional Alsatian style in pursuit of points, and I don't like that.

I'll sum up ZH with a quote from Gary Walsh regarding one of the dry wines: "I didn't know whether to drink it or rub it on my chest."

Deiss is a tricky one to compare with other Alsace producers, as he's the only one to make many of his top wines through a field blend. He's not the only one to ignore the grand cru system in Alsace (there are a few others who follow the same path), but that certainly differentiates them from Trimbach, Weinbach and Z-H as well in some respects. Of course, although he doesn't name the grand cru, he still uses them...

I'm not a big fan of saying there should be one 'best' producer from any one region, but I admit it's a fun and interesting process to discuss it! It's especially tricky in Alsace, where there are three main grapes to deal with (as others have noted, some producers do better than others with, for example, riesling, pinot gris, or gewurtztraminer) and dry and VT/SGN styles as well; not to mention the fact that some producers seem to do slightly better than others each year. Then there's the whole dry vs residual sugar style preferences to deal with!

Florida Jim wrote:Bill,Here we will agree to disagree.Trimbach is, IMO, far the most reliable and has the finest bottlings at all price points.Best, Jim

I agree. From the basic varietal bottlings to the CFE all are IMO bloody brilliant! Trimbach even makes a Gewurz I'm very fond of: Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre.

For cheapies, one who makes very pure expressions of the grapes is Joseph Scharsch.

I've got a funny relationship with Z-H. I love tasting his wines. But I really don't think I could ever manage more than a tasting pour of them. Especially at big walk-about tastings it's nice to go to the Z-H lineup because there will be acidity and minerals and they are always interesting in some ways. But they are also a tad in-your-face, too big, and too tiring to drink.

I don't drink wine because of religious reasons ... only for other reasons.